


Limbs and Folds (In Time)

by OnceABlueMoon



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Comedy, Fix-It, Gen, Humor, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, the first half is somewhat serious, then dororo starts talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27620975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceABlueMoon/pseuds/OnceABlueMoon
Summary: There is this time in a child’s life when they are so small and have so much left to learn, that they will believe anything. In that small window of time, nothing is impossible to them. It’s a little magical, and the powers of heaven and earth are moved by it.Now, this would not be such a big problem, as most children don’t think of too outrageous things. After all the every day is still outrageous to them, for they are still learning.Hyakkimaru, though. Hyakkimaru, only truly born once he regained his limbs, Hyakkimaru, who never had the ears to hear the word ‘impossible’, never the eyes to see Jukai’s lips move as he said the word… Hyakkimaru can still move heaven and earth for he knows not what is possible and what is not.Therefore, when his mother, his brother and his adoptive father die in a burning castle, he cocks his head and thinks:we’ll do that over.And because he does not know the meaning of impossible, it happens.
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Dororo

There is this time in a child’s life when they are so small and have so much left to learn, that they will believe anything. Tell a child who sees the sky for the first time that the colour they are seeing is green and they will henceforth call that colour green. Unless corrected, that thought continues. In that small window of time, nothing is impossible to them. It’s a little magical, and the powers of heaven and earth are moved by it.

Now, this would not be such a big problem, as most children don’t think of too outrageous things. After all the every day is still outrageous to them, for they are still learning.

Hyakkimaru, though. Hyakkimaru, only truly born once he regained his limbs, Hyakkimaru, who never had the ears to hear the word ‘impossible’, never the eyes to see Jukai’s lips move as he said the word… Hyakkimaru can still move heaven and earth for he knows not what is possible and what is not.

Therefore, when his mother, his brother and his adoptive father die in a burning castle, he cocks his head and thinks: _we’ll do that over._

And because he does not know the meaning of impossible, it happens.

* * *

The first thing he does, after he falls through the folds of time until he is once again blind and deaf, his arms swords and his legs wooden, his spine rigged together by a thread, is get Dororo. This isn’t all that difficult, because he inexplicably found himself in front of the town he picked him up the first time around- just after he defeated the demon. He knows because he has skin. He’s glad, really, that _this_ is the specific moment he’s landed because he likes having skin. Ears and eyes, one can do without for all he dislikes it, but skin is awfully handy because it prevents dirt from getting into the few organs he does have at the moment.

Yes, he thinks, as he blinks for the very first time in this world- and yet it is not the first time _he_ has blinked because falling through time is wonderful like that.

He remembers the shrine of hell and the statues, how Biwamaru had told him that they broke as Hyakkimaru had taken back his limbs. Now the question was if the statues broke when the demons died, would the demons die if he broke the statues?

It was worth a try. Would save him the whole hunting down the demons again, as well all the bloodshed. If he nipped it in the bud before the whole dilemma began… Then surely his mother, Tahomaru and Jukai wouldn’t die again, right?

Nodding decisively to himself, he walks forward, Dororo’s soul trailing after him. Hyakkimaru breaks off a tree branch. Dororo stops next to him, the wisps of his soul going this way and that way in confusion. The side of Hyakkimaru’s mouth curves up and he checks the soil beneath his feet with his newly nicely protected with skin, _real_ leg. Soft enough! He brings the branch down and starts carving characters into the soft clay. One by one they come out. He can almost see Dororo mouthing the words as he reads them aloud.

_Do you want to beat up some statues?_

And the great thing about this whole ordeal is this: there is no question about it. Hyakkimaru knows that Dororo would _always_ be up for anything, as long as they were together, because that is how it's been since the beginning. That he is at the beginning again doesn't matter. It would only forge their bond even stronger.

They have a lot of adventures to be embarking on, and the very first one would be Hyakkimaru’s. Dororo can choose all the other adventures after if he wants to.

With that, he sets off in the direction of Daigo, Dororo’s crane white soul fluttering after him.

* * *

Tahomaru is pretty sure he woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. In fact, he isn’t even sure if he’d woken up at all. This is definitely strange enough to be a fever dream, if you ask him.

‘’So,’’ he says, ‘’Your name was?’’

The small, poorly dressed child beside him beams up at him. ‘’Dororo!’’

‘’And you are here because?’’

‘’I came here with Aniki!’’ the child enthusiastically points out the man in the courtyard before them, where he was currently being sobbed on by _Tahomaru’s mother,_ while his father was still waving his sword around in the air while shouting, but not actually getting any closer.

Tahomaru pinches the bridge of his nose. ‘’So, there is disaster all over town and my dad is yelling "LIMBLESS DEMON CHILD WHY DID YOU RETURN" at this guy who has all his limbs. The same guy who my mother is currently hugging while _crying of all things._

And here I am, standing next to you, and you're not even _trying_ to explain.’’

Dororo crosses his arms, frowning at him. ‘’Hey! He just picked me up while he was still limbless, wrote ‘Hey, wanna beat up some statues’ on the ground and I just thought that sounded like a good time.

I’m not the explanation person, I'm the ‘cheers him on while he vandalises public property for no reason’ person, except it turned out he did have a reason and the reason was limbs.’’

Tahomaru’s mouth falls open at that, dumbfounded. ‘’Limbs?’’

Dororo nods, dead serious. ‘’Limbs.’’

Tahomaru, unable to take it, stares at the scene in the courtyard for a second. His mother’s wailing only gets louder though, and his father’s shouting rises in volume with it. The man in the middle of it doesn’t even blink, he’s too busy studying the texture of his mother’s hair as if he’s never seen hair before. The headache that comes up in him at the whole display is awful, though, so he turns back to Dororo. ‘’Please just tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that huge earthquake and those landslides from earlier.’’

‘’Oh, but we _were_ involved in those,’’ Dororo says, with the conniving look of a child who’s about to con a man out of a fortune. ‘’But I’m not telling you about that unless you pay up.’’


	2. Mio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mio makes an appearance: or, the serious bonus chapter

Men who came bearing gifts, Mio knew, rarely gave them away without expecting something in return. But it wasn’t like she was in any position to refuse any kind of help and she doubted that what he wanted from her could be any worse than she’d endured before.

Looking at the rice grains in his hands, she took the pouch from him, before gently pushing him down to the floor. ‘’Please sit. Let’s start with your name.’’ For this gift, for this priceless treasure that could assure the future of the kids, she’d do almost anything.

The man, barely an adult himself, shifted uncomfortably but sank smoothly to the floor as only those familiar with martial arts did. Mio would know- her job was bedding soldiers, knowing who had the strength to hurt her was incredibly important.

Then again, she thought, as she poured water into the pot above the fire, it was also most vital to her job to know who _would_ hurt her with what strength they possessed and who wouldn’t. And strangely enough, as she looked at the man in front of her, his deep brown eyes did not betray the sick desire to cause pain.

The people who brought gifts were usually the ones who hurt her the most. They thought it evened out, and Mio, desperate for coin to keep the kids alive, wouldn’t ever protest it.

Then again, the men who Mio served during night time rarely came to her house, and if they did, they sure never took a child along with them.

‘’Hyakkimaru,’’ the man finally said.

Mio frowned in confusion before she realized he’d answered her question. ‘’That’s your name?’’

He nodded.

‘’And I’m Dororo!’’ The little boy seated next to him chirped. ‘’We’re here to help you plant your rice paddy! Aniki said it was your dream.’’

Mio’s brows drew together. ‘’How did he know? I’ve never met him before.’’

Then again… The night was often dark and she couldn’t always see her customers all that well. She squinted at him, trying to figure out if she’d seen him before. But no dice- she would have remembered this man. Something about the wild dark hair and the calm brown eyes would’ve stayed with her. He looks like someone who overcame calamity. Like some who knew frenzy and then decided to become calm after all.

He is still a man. She doesn’t trust him. If he were someone who knew the pain of lost limbs, someone lost to fever and pain, then perhaps she could have overcome that. But he isn’t. He is tall and intimidating, for all he hasn’t acted on it yet.

Dororo shrugs. ‘’He’s just like that. Knows things he shouldn’t. Makes adventures interesting sometimes!’’

Hyakkimaru nods. ‘’I know you. You don’t know me.’’ Then, as if this makes sense, he once again pushes the rice grains into her hands, even though the tea isn’t even done yet.

Dororo grins, elbowing his older companion. ‘’He’s been saying he knows the perfect place for you to plant it too! The entire way here it was only ‘Mio this’, ‘Mio that’, and something about a white or red flower? I didn’t get that part at all! And he kept saying I’d like the kids!’’

White or red flowers? Like her song? Then he must have been a customer. She always sings while she works to forget what she’s doing to some extent, to stop it from hurting so much when they get rough with her. But to be so concerned with her, so concerned about the children…

She sings a happy song when they go in search of the place Dororo mentioned for a rice paddy. Hyakkimaru smiles as he listens to her song, various children hanging off him as he directs the group to a perfect spot.

‘’I’m glad,’’ he says, a little haltingly, turning them over as if the words are somehow unfamiliar in his mouth, ‘’You look happy.’’

She is, she realizes, a little startled. Watching the kids running around on the empty lot, exploring the house that will be their new home, she is happy.

She still doesn’t know what Hyakkimaru wants from her. But perhaps, it might not be so bad.

* * *

As days pass, he doesn’t ever say anything about staying and he never touches her, though he seems to like her company all the same. They sit beside each other at the fire, at first because she doesn’t want him too close the kids, later because the way his eyes watch each and every thing around him in wonder. The children like him, because he lets them climb all over him, strong arms catching them when they fall.

Mio, though, Mio likes him because he doesn’t presume that he will do the work. His gift of the rice grains is priceless, but the one who will make her dream come true isn't him- it's Mio herself, and he never contradicts her on that.

He doesn't seem to expect her to be grateful to him, though she is. No, for some strange reason he seems to be grateful to _her._ As if just getting to see her and the kids do this is a balm to his soul.

“Want to hear a song?” she asks because she's happy and he seems to like them.

He nods eagerly.

When she's done, she cocks her head. “What did you think?”

And he says, with all the quivering of a child uttering its first word: “Beautiful.”

He means it. He means it down to his soul.

Mio laughs and she feels alive.


End file.
